This invention relates generally to the field of music and more specifically to a machine and method for teaching music and piano.
The learning of music in a systematic approach has been the goal of music teachers for centuries. The typical method of teaching music involved hours of rote learning of notes and their proper location on the Bass and Trebles staffs accompanied by hours of repetition with the particular musical instrument. The piano has often been the instrument of choice as it is capable of playing a tremendous variety of music from the most simple melody to complex symphonic composition. Written methods for teaching the piano abound and largely rely on repeated playing of simple compositions to learn the bass and treble musical systems. Numerous prior art systems and methods have attempted to improve on the teaching of music but generally fail to provide an interactive system and method that effectively works with beginners, particularly children. Other systems have attempted to develop teaching aids and graphical devices to aid in learning the notes of a scale but still have failed to associate the teaching methodology with the sounds of the musical notes and their proper location on a keyboard. Further, there has been no useful method for introducing and associating the proper musical intervals with their relationship to the treble and bass clefs and the keys of a keyboard instrument. Various prior art systems and methods described below have failed in creating the unique aspects of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,741,769 issued Dec. 31, 1929 to A. Y. Hall shows a mechanical piano instruction device whereby notes are scrolled above the keys on a piano in the time and rhythm of the music but that does not have the interactive qualities of the present invention to provide real time correction and authentication of the user's selection of particular keys that correspond to the proper notes played.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,539 issued Apr. 11, 1989 to Searing shows a Music Teaching System and Apparatus using flash cards associated with notes on the treble and clef staffs but fails to show the inventive method of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,758,043 issued May 13, 1930 to H. D. Hoffmeister shows a static device for correlating the staff with the keyboard of a piano but does not have the interactive qualities of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,833,204 issued Nov. 24, 1931 to E. L. Buxton shows a static keyboard and staff reader that does not have the interactive qualities of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,577,890 issued May 11, 1971 to E. F. Walker et al. shows a musical teaching aid that corresponds the notes of the treble and bass clefs with the keys of the piano, but does not have the interactive quality of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,056,999 issued Nov. 8, 1977 to W. J. Bennett shows a piano teaching aid that comprises an overlay that fits over the keys of the piano to show the association between the notes and the treble and clef staffs but does not have the interactive quality of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,400,947 issued Dec. 20, 1921 to E. Fennell shows an indicator for musical instruction that associates the notes on the staffs with the notes on the keyboard and provides an audible buzzer when the correct association is made but does not provide real time association with proper note and rhythm by audio and visual means to signify correct and incorrect choices while playing a piece of music.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,766,087 issued Jun. 24, 1930 to N. L. Sullivan to a music chart blackboard shows a depiction of a keyboard over the lines for the treble and bass staffs for instructing students on notes but does not show the interactive qualities of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,768,706 issued Jul. 1, 1930 to E. Miller shows a static key board and staff reader that associates the notes of the staffs with the keys of the piano but lacks the interactive qualities of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,570,360 issued Mar. 16, 1971 to H. J. Siegel shows a music teaching device whereby a simulated keyboard is presented and a horizontal presentation of music is shown and the user uses a stylus to indicate the proper note shown on the musical representation and in so doing produces an audible sound corresponding to the proper note, but does not show an interactive method or system like the present invention for teaching a musical composition and the proper timing orientation of the notes in a real time setting.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,728,930 issued Apr. 24, 1973 to W. Maron shows a Music Training Device that presents notes on the treble and bass staffs through a window showing one note from each in time but is not interactive or automatic and does not have the qualities of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,630 issued Jul. 9, 1974 to V. M. Leonard shows a static music teaching aid based on the hands and scale degrees but does not have the interactive qualities of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,903,781 issued Sep. 9, 1975 to V. M. Leonard shows a static keyboard progression teaching aid for associating notes to the keys of a key but fails to show the inventive interactive system of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,295,407 issued Oct. 20, 1981 to V. M. Leonard shows a static keyboard simulation with vertical inversion indexes and insert cards but fails to show the interactive qualities of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,522 issued Jun. 11, 1996 to J. Hesnan shows a sliding template with view windows that show musical notes and a version that displays the information on a hand held calculator but fails to show the interactive qualities of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,031,172 issued Feb. 29, 2000 to M. G. Papadapoulos shows a static set of reference rings that show musical notes and their relationship to scales and keys but fails to show the interactive qualities of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,977 issued Jun. 17, 1997 to Hesnan shows a sliding template with view windows that show musical notes and a version that displays the information on a hand held calculator but fails to show the interactive qualities of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,179 issued Mar. 5, 1996 to Hoffman shows a music teaching system using depictions that correspond with the alphabetic names of musical notes but fails to show the interactive qualities of the present invention or an association with the aural sound of the notes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,886,273 issued Mar. 23, 1999 to Haruyama shows a performance instructing apparatus having a display and keyboard showing vertically oriented notes but fails to show proper location on a musical staff or have the interactive qualities of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,388,181 issued May 14, 2002 to Moe shows a computer graphic animation of a keyboard and the proper location of the hands on the keys but fails to show proper location on a musical staff or the interactive qualities of the present invention.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2002/0177113 A1 published Nov. 28, 2002 to Sherlock shows a method and apparatus for learning to play musical instruments but fails to show proper location of the notes on a vertical musical staff or the interactive qualities of the present invention.
The prior art does not show a fully automated and interactive teaching system that utilizes real time presentation of music on a display medium such as a computer screen and that provides ongoing correction and affirmation of a student's choice of key depression that corresponds with the musical piece being learned. Further, none of the prior art shows a variety of games that stimulate musical learning by using the interactive qualities of a computer and its association with responsive video and audio signals to represent proper and incorrect association of notes with the keys of an instrument interconnected to the computer system. No prior art system provides a teaching system that presents music in interactive shapes and colors, shows the music in a vertical orientation to the keyboard and associates they musical staffs with the keys of a piano. Nor does any prior art system make use of the aural association between the sounds of the notes and their proper location on the keyboard or musical staffs. Further, no prior art system has used color coded graphics for the lines and spaces of the staffs and notes in a coordinated method for teaching beginners to recognize the proper notes and their location on the musical staff.